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Siegfried Sassoon, poet, was born 8 September 1886 at Weirleigh, near Paddock Wood in Kent. He was educated at Marlborough College and Clare College, Cambridge. He published two anti-war books of poems, The Old Huntsman (1917) and Counter-Attack (1918) which sprung from his service in World War I. He wrote a lightly fictionalized autobiography titled Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man (1928) which won both the Hawthornden and James Tait Black memorial prizes. The book was the first of a trilogy. All three books appeared as The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston (1937). He went on to publish a factual autobiography, also a trilogy. His poems were collected and published in 1947. Sassoon died at Heytesbury House, near Warminster in Wiltshire on 1 September 1967.

Joseph (Yosef) Baruch Salsberg was born in Lagow, in the Opatow district of Radom Gubernica, (now Poland, then under Russian rule) in 1902. He was the son of Sarah-Gitel and Abraham, a baker who worked in Canada as a junk peddler after immigrating in 1910. In 1913, the Salsberg family immigrated to Toronto to join Abraham, and settled Toronto’s Jewish district on Cecil Street. J.B. quit school at age fourteen and acquired a trade in the textile industry; he later joined the United Hatters, Cap, and Millinery Worker International Union and became a union organizer. He married Dora Wilensky (1901-1959), a social worker who would later head Toronto Jewish Family and Child Services. Salsberg organized in Toronto, Montreal, New York, and Chicago and became a key figure in the Worker’s Unity League, the Canadian Friends of the Soviet Union, and the Communist Party of Canada. He was elected to Toronto City Council as an alderman of Ward 4 in 1938 and 1943. Between 1943 and 1955 he represented the St. Andrew riding in Toronto in the Ontario Parliament as a member of the Labor-Progressive party. Due to his criticism of the Soviet Union, he was expelled from the CPC in October 1956. In 1959, he founded the New Fraternal Jewish Association. Following the end of his political career, he continued to write and speak on Leftist and Jewish topics.

E. Togo Salmon, classics scholar, was born in London, England on 29 May 1905. He was educated at the University of Sydney and Cambridge University. He came to McMaster University in 1930 as an Assistant Professor of Classics. In 1954 he was made Messecar Professor of History and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He served as the Principal of University College from 1961 to 1967 when he was appointed Vice-President (Academic) Arts, a position he held until 1968. He retired from McMaster University in 1973 and died on 11 May 1988.

Sarah Elizabeth Russell was a granddaughter of Lord Bertrand Russell, philosopher and peace activist. Her father, John Conrad Russell, was Bertrand Russell’s first son from his marriage to Dora Black. Her mother, Susan Lindsay, was the daughter of American poet Vachel Lindsay.

Sarah was the first daughter born to John and Susan (birthdate 16 January 1947), and the second child in their family (the first child, Anne Russell, was born to Susan Lindsay and adopted by John Russell prior to Sarah’s birth).

Sarah’s family initially lived in a small flat in Cambrian Road, Richmond, but by 1950, they had moved to the main floor of 41 Queen’s Road in Richmond with Bertrand Russell (Monk 316-317). In December 1952, Bertrand Russell married his fourth wife, Edith Finch, and soon after she moved into the Queen’s Road home, Sarah’s parents moved out of it (Monk 355). Sarah’s parents separated in 1954 and divorced by 1955 (Monk 359-360).

Thereafter, Sarah and her sisters became the subjects of a protracted family custody dispute, the result of which was that Bertrand and Edith Russell won full custody of the children in 1961, with their father, John Russell, retaining visitation rights (Monk 400).

Sarah attended Kingsmuir School, a boarding school in Sussex, while the family resided at 41 Queen’s Road (Griffin 503). In 1956, Bertrand and Edith Russell moved the family to Plas Penrhyn, their home in Wales. Following this move, Sarah and her sisters attended Moreton Hall, a private girls’ boarding school in Shropshire (Monk 370; Griffin 503). Near Russell’s home in Wales lived the Cooper-Willis family: mother Susan Williams-Ellis, a renowned potter; father Euan Cooper-Willis, and daughters Siân and Anwyl, who were close friends of Sarah and her sisters.

Sarah left Moreton Hall, possibly as early as 1961, to complete her studies at Dartington Hall, a progressive co-educational boarding school in Devon. In 1966, she commenced a program in English Language and Literature at the University of Reading. She appears to have taken a break in 1970, when she was diagnosed with schizophrenia (Monk 500). Sarah returned to her program in 1977, and in 1979, she was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in the second division of the second class.

In 1975, Sarah’s younger sister Lucy died by self-immolation (Monk 501-502). This event had a significant impact on Sarah and is addressed in her diaries (see Series 2).

Little is known of the later period of Sarah’s life, though Ray Monk, biographer of Bertrand Russell, writes that Sarah spent much of her life in psychiatric care (500).

Lucy Catherine Russell was a granddaughter of Lord Bertrand Russell, philosopher and peace activist. Her father, John Conrad Russell, was Bertrand Russell’s first son from his marriage to Dora Black. Her mother, Susan Lindsay, was the daughter of American poet Vachel Lindsay.

Lucy was the third daughter of John and Susan. By the time of Lucy’s birth on July 21, 1948, her parents’ relationship had already begun to deteriorate. Lucy’s family initially lived in a small flat in Cambrian Road, Richmond, but by 1950, they had moved to the main floor of 41 Queen’s Road in Richmond with Bertrand Russell (Monk 316-317). In December 1952, Bertrand Russell married his fourth wife, Edith Finch, and soon after she moved into the Queen’s Road home, Lucy’s parents moved out of it (Monk 355).

By the time she was five years old, Lucy and her sisters had become the subjects of a bitter family custody dispute. Bertrand and Edith Russell, with whom the children still lived, initially desired to have the girls made wards of the court on the basis of parental neglect, an initiative which was strongly opposed by Dora Russell (née Black), their grandmother (Monk 356). By 1954, Lucy’s parents had separated, and John, her father, had been hospitalized following a schizophrenic breakdown (Monk 359-360). Subsequently, John Russell moved into his mother Dora’s home, Carn Voel in Cornwall, where he would remain for much of his life.

John and Susan formally divorced in 1955, and John Russell retained custody of the children. However, the children remained in the care of Bertrand and Edith Russell (Monk 361), with much tension ensuing in subsequent years over parental visitation rights.

Lucy attended Kingsmuir School, a boarding school in Sussex, while the family resided at 41 Queen’s Road (Griffin 503). In 1956, when Lucy was eight years old, Bertrand and Edith Russell moved the family to Plas Penrhyn, their home in Wales. Following this move, Lucy and her sisters were sent to Moreton Hall, a private girls’ boarding school in Shropshire (Monk 370; Griffin 503). Near Russell’s home in Wales lived the Cooper-Willis family: mother Susan Williams-Ellis, a renowned potter; father Euan Cooper-Willis, and daughters Sian and Anwyl, who were close friends of Lucy and her sisters. Sian Cooper-Willis would later become a custodian of Lucy Russell’s papers.

In 1960, Bertrand and Edith Russell sought to further secure the girls’ situation by seeking legal custody of them (Monk 394). A protracted custody battle ensued, and in the end, Bertrand and Edith won full custody (1961), with John Russell retaining visitation rights (Monk 400).

Lucy excelled in her studies at Moreton Hall, demonstrating interest in mathematics (Monk 493). In the summer of 1962, at the age of fourteen, she left Moreton Hall to continue her studies at Dartington Hall, a progressive co-educational boarding school in Dartington, Devon. Lucy began to experience academic difficulties at this point, though her instructors noted her aptitude for languages (Monk 493). Lucy’s papers reveal her nascent interest in poetry, literature, and art as well.

In the summer of 1965, Lucy had withdrawn from Dartington Hall, focusing her efforts instead on private mathematics coaching and passing her A-level exams (Monk 493). In subsequent years, Lucy made several failed attempts to pass her A-level examinations and her entrance examinations to Oxford and Cambridge. It was not until 1970 that she was accepted on a course in anthropology and politics at the University of Kent (Monk 501).

Bertrand Russell passed away in February 1970, when Lucy was twenty years old. By 1972, Lucy had abandoned her latest round of university studies, and after a peripatetic period, she was hospitalized and diagnosed with schizophrenia (Monk 501; Moorehead 551). Following her release from hospital, she returned briefly to stay with Dora Russell and her father in Cornwall. On 11 April 1975, Lucy travelled by bus to a graveyard in the village of St. Buryan (Cornwall), where she died by self-immolation. She was, at the time of her death, twenty-six years old (Monk 501-502).

John Conrad Russell was the eldest son of Lord Bertrand Russell, philosopher and peace activist, and Dora Russell (neé Black), author and social campaigner.

Born in 1921, John was educated at Dartington Hall School, a progressive co-educational boarding school in Dartington, England. He went on to graduate cum laude from Harvard University, where he completed a B.A. thesis in 1943 entitled “An Analysis of the Principal Occasions and Causes of Failure of Democracy.”

In 1943, John returned to England and enlisted in the Royal Naval Reserve. He married Susan Doniphan Lindsay, daughter of the American poet Vachel Lindsay, in 1946. Soon after their marriage, he adopted her child from another relationship, Felicity Anne. In 1946 and 1948, the couple’s daughters Sarah Elizabeth and Lucy Catherine were born. By 1955, John and Susan had divorced, and in the same year, John experienced his first mental health crisis requiring hospitalization. He was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia. In 1961, he lost custody rights to his children, who remained in the care of Bertrand Russell and his wife, Edith.

When Bertrand Russell passed away in 1970, John inherited his father’s hereditary peerage, becoming the fourth Earl Russell and a member of the House of Lords.

John passed away in 1987, and his title passed to his half-brother, Conrad Sebastian Robert Russell, who became the fifth Earl Russell.

Felicity Anne Russell (hereafter, Anne) was a granddaughter of Lord Bertrand Russell, philosopher and peace activist, by adoption. Her adoptive father, John Conrad Russell, was Bertrand Russell’s first son from his marriage to Dora Black. Her mother, Susan Doniphan Lindsay, was the daughter of American poet Vachel Lindsay.

Anne was the child of Susan Lindsay and an unidentified father. She was born on September 2, 1945. Susan Lindsay met John Russell when Anne was an infant in 1945; in August 1946, John and Susan married, and by 1947, John had formally adopted Anne.

Anne’s family initially lived in several locations in England after her parents’ marriage, including Kilburn (with Dora Russell), St. John’s Wood in North London (with Griffin Barry, a former romantic partner of Dora Russell and the father of two of her children), a flat on Cambrian Road in Richmond, and, by 1950, the main floor of Bertrand Russell’s home in Richmond (Monk 315-317). After this last move, Anne Russell began attending Kingsmuir School, a boarding school in Sussex (Griffin 503).

In December 1952, Bertrand Russell married his fourth wife, Edith Finch, and soon after she moved into the Queen’s Road home, Anne’s parents moved out of it (Monk 355). Anne’s parents separated in 1954 and divorced by 1955 (Monk 359-360).

Thereafter, Anne and her sisters became the subjects of a protracted family custody dispute, the result of which was that Bertrand and Edith Russell won full custody of the children in 1961, with their father, John Russell, retaining visitation rights (Monk 400).

1956, Bertrand and Edith Russell moved the family to Plas Penrhyn, their home in Wales. Following this move, Anne and her sisters attended Moreton Hall, a private girls’ boarding school in Shropshire (Monk 370; Griffin 503). Near Russell’s home in Wales lived the Cooper-Willis family: mother Susan Williams-Ellis, a renowned potter; father Euan Cooper-Willis, and daughters Siân and Anwyl, who were close friends of Anne and her sisters.

Anne left Moreton Hall in 1962 (Monk 485). It is likely that she went on to complete her studies at Dartington Hall, a progressive co-educational boarding school in Devon, as her sisters Sarah and Lucy did this as well.

Little documentary evidence exists in the Russell archive about Anne’s adult life, though Ray Monk notes that she moved to New Mexico in 1975, where she has lived ever since (500).

Dora Russell, educator, author and social reformer, was born in 1894 at Thornton Heath to Sir Frederick Black and his wife, Sarah, and educated at Girton College, Cambridge. She married Bertrand Russell on 27 September 1921. The couple had two children. Together they founded and ran Beacon Hill school, where their children began their educations. After her separation in 1932 followed by divorce in 1935, Dora Russell continued to operate the school.

She was active in many causes. In 1924 she founded the Workers' Birth Control Group and ran as the Labour candidate for Chelsea in the general election. She was a founding member of the National Council for Civil Liberties. She was one of organizers of the Women's Caravan of Peace in 1958. Dora Russell was also the author of several books, beginning with The Prospects for Industrial Civilization (1923), written jointly with Bertrand Russell. She published a three volume autobiography, The Tamarisk Tree (1977-1985). She died in Cornwall on 31 May 1986.

Bertrand Arthur William Russell, philosopher, logician, peace advocate and social reformer, was born at Trelleck in Monmouthshire on 18 May 1872, the younger son of Viscount Amberley, and the grandson of Lord John Russell, the first Earl Russell. Educated at Cambridge, Russell was a prolific author, publishing his first book, Germany Social Democracy, in 1896, quickly followed by his dissertation, An Essay on the Foundations of Geometry (1897). His principal work, Principia Mathematica, written with Alfred North Whitehead, was published in three volumes, 1910-1913. In addition to philosophy, he wrote books about education, marriage, religion, politics, and many other subjects.

He was an active campaigner against World War I, nuclear weapons, and the Vietnam war. For a time he owned and operated his own school, Beacon Hill, together with his wife, Dora Russell. He was a recipient of many awards and honours, including the Nobel Prize for Literature (1950) and the Order of Merit (1949). He married four times--Alys Pearsall Smith (m. 1894); Dora Black (m. 1921); Patricia (‘Peter’) Spence (m. 1936); and Edith Finch (m. 1952)—and had significant relationships with other women, most notably Ottoline Morrell and Constance Malleson. Russell published an Autobiography in three volumes, 1967-1969. He died at Plas Penrhyn, Merionethshire, Wales on 2 February 1970.

Sir William Rough, lawyer and poet, was born on 21 August, probably in 1772, in St. James, Middlesex. He was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College Cambridge. In April 1816 he became president of the court of justice for the united colony of Demerara and Essequibo where he served for five years. In 1830 he was appointed puisne judge in Ceylon, later becoming chief justice. He was knighted on 7 August 1837. Rough published poetry in Gentleman's Magazine and Monthly Magazine. He died on 19 May 1838 at Nuwara Eliya, Ceylon.

Rolf was an American serviceman during WWII.

William Rogers was a yeoman living in or near Albion, York township, Upper Canada. On 13 December 1837 he was arrested and charged with treason. In all 422 people were arrested in the Home District. He was tried in the Court of Oyer and Terminer on 18 April 1838 and acquitted (“Return of the Names and Quality of Station of the several person, arrested and placed in confinement in the Prisons of Toronto, etc.; printed by the House of Commons, 25 Feb. 1839).

Andreas Roessner, burgess and basketmaker lived in Kelheim, Bavaria, with Maria his wife.

James Rennell Rodd, diplomat and author, was born in London on 9 November 1858 and educated at Balliol College, Oxford. He served as British Ambassador in Rome, 1908-1919. Later, he was Conservative Member of Parliament for St. Marylebone, 1928-1932. He was created 1st Baron Rennell of Rodd in 1933.

He published 3 volumes of memoirs, Social and Diplomatic Memoirs (1922-1926) in addition to his poetry and prose.

Judith Robinson was born in Toronto, Ont. on Victoria Street on April 6, 1899. She was the daughter of Jessie and John Robinson Robinson (nicknamed “Black Jack Robinson”), who was the editor of the Toronto Telegram until his death in 1929. She attended Toronto Model School until age 12, when she contracted a childhood illness which stopped her schooling. Self-taught in journalism and literature, she also developed an interest in architecture.

Known as ‘Brad’ to her friends, Robinson became a reporter at the Toronto Globe in 1929. Under Globe President George McCullagh, she wrote a Page One feature column daily beginning in 1936. She resigned in 1940 over a political disagreement with the Globe’s coverage of World War II. With her brother John and Oakley Dalgleish, she clandestinely printed advertisements under the name “Canada Calling,” criticizing Mackenzie King government’s slow response to the war effort. In May 1941, she and Dalgleish founded NEWS, a national weekly newspaper whose editorial office was her home at 63 Wellesley St. NEWS closed in 1946. During the war she was also was active in the Women’s Emergency Committee which petitioned the Canadian government to close the Christie Street Veteran’s Hospital in Toronto. Those efforts helped result in the opening of Sunnybrook Military Hospital in 1946. Beginning in 1953, she wrote a daily column for the Toronto Telegram until her death on December 17, 1961.

Robinson authored three non-fiction books: Tom Cullen of Baltimore (1949), As We Came By (1951), and This Is On the House (1957). She edited John Farthing’s political treatise, Freedom Wears a Crown, and helped publish the medical memoir Days of Living: The Journal of Martin Roher, for which she wrote the introduction.

I. V. Robinson, presumably an electrical engineer, lived in Carisbrooke, Waltton on Thames, England. He wrote a report titled "Power Stations and Their Equipment," for the Institution of Electrical Engineers in London, England. It was published in their journal in March 1935. His report sets out the progress made in this important scientific field since his previous report which was compiled in 1931.

David A. Robinson was a community leader in Hamilton, Ontario. His interests included: the law, the arts, literature, the welfare of his fellow citizens, and the history of the Jewish faith. He served as Chairman of the Board of Management of the Art Gallery of Hamilton, Honorary Solicitor of the Big Brothers Association, President of the Canadian Club of Hamilton, Chairman of the Board of Education, and President of the Hamilton Association for the Advancement of Literature, Art and Science.

Alfred Langsford Robinson was a member of the Canadian Engineers of the 2nd Division of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. The 2nd Division officially came into existence on 25 May 1915. The engineers were very important to the war effort, constructing huts, digging trenches, facilitating transportation, and creating equipment to deal with hazards like poison gas. The division participated on many fronts, including the Second Battle of Ypres, Robecq, St. Eloi Craters, Somme, Courcelette, Regina Trench, Vimy, Hill 70 and Passchendaele.